THE SWARM 



bend them to his will. In their unswen'- 

 ing loyalty, they will accept the most un- 

 expected events with touching courage, 

 reg-ardiiig them probably as some new and 

 inevitable fatal caprice of nature. And, 

 indeed, all this diplomac}- not^\^thstanding, 

 in the desperate confusion that may follow 

 one of these hazardous expedients, it is 

 on the admirable good sense of the bee 

 that man always, and almost empirically, 

 relies : on the inexhaustible treasure of 

 their man'dlous laws and customs, on 

 their love of peace and order, their devo- 

 tion to the public weil. and fidelity to 

 the future: on the adroit strength, the 

 earnest disinterestedness, of their character. 

 and. .\bo%e all, on the untiring devotion 

 with which the^• fultil their dut\-. But 



